Nikola Jurčević
Croatian footballer and manager
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Nikola Jurčević (born 14 September 1966) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player.
|
Jurčević in training | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 14 September 1966 | ||
| Place of birth | Zagreb, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Positions | |||
| Youth career | |||
| Dinamo Zagreb | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1984–1986 | Dinamo Zagreb | 4 | (0) |
| 1986–1988 | NK Zagreb | ||
| 1988–1989 | Antwerp | 1 | (0) |
| 1989–1991 | NK Zagreb | 33 | (25) |
| 1991–1995 | Austria Salzburg | 130 | (42) |
| 1995–1997 | SC Freiburg | 45 | (5) |
| 1997–1999 | Austria Salzburg | 31 | (4) |
| Total | 211 | (51) | |
| International career | |||
| 1990–1991 | Croatia (unofficial) | 2 | (0) |
| 1994–1996 | Croatia | 17 | (2) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2002–2003 | NK Zagreb | ||
| 2003–2004 | Dinamo Zagreb | ||
| 2005 | Austria Salzburg | ||
| 2005 | Slaven Belupo | ||
| 2006–2012 | Croatia (assistant) | ||
| 2012–2013 | Lokomotiv Moscow (assistant) | ||
| 2013–2015 | Beşiktaş (assistant) | ||
| 2015–2017 | West Ham United (assistant) | ||
| 2018 | Dinamo Zagreb | ||
| 2019 | Azerbaijan | ||
| 2023 | Lebanon | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Playing career
Jurčević made his debut for Croatia in a December 1990 friendly match against Romania, coming on as a 66th-minute substitute for Ivan Cvjetković, and earned a total of 19 caps (2 unofficial), scoring 2 goals.[citation needed] Since Croatia was still officially part of Yugoslavia at the time, his first two games were unofficial.[citation needed] His final international was a December 1996 friendly against Morocco.[1]
Managerial career
Jurčević started as a manager of NK Zagreb in 2002,[citation needed] but a year later he became the manager for Dinamo Zagreb.[citation needed] He celebrated the Prva HNL and Croatian Cup in 2004.[citation needed] Later, he managed NK Slaven Belupo.[citation needed] He also worked as an assistant manager for the Croatia national team, assisting his former international teammates Slaven Bilić and Aljoša Asanović.[citation needed]
On 18 September 2015, he was appointed as the assistant manager to Bilić at West Ham United.[2] He left the club along with Bilić's other coaching staff when the manager was sacked on 6 November 2017.[3] On 12 March 2018, he was named the manager of Croatian First Football League club Dinamo Zagreb,[citation needed] but he was sacked by club on 15 May 2018, after poor performance in the club.[citation needed]
On 11 February 2019, he was named the new head coach for the Azerbaijan national team.[4] On 13 December 2019, he was sacked as manager of the Azerbaijan national team due to the team's poor performance in the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying, despite managing a respectable 1–1 draw to his home country Croatia at home.[5]
On 2 October 2023, Jurčević was appointed head coach of the Lebanon national team ahead of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup and 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification.[6] However, just two months into the role, Jurčević left the Lebanon national team just a month before the tournament began, by “mutual consent”.[7]
Career statistics
International
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Croatia | 1990 | 1 | 0 |
| 1991 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1992 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1993 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1994 | 4 | 1 | |
| 1995 | 4 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 9 | 0 | |
| Total | 19 | 2 | |
- Scores and results list Croatia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Jurčević goal.
Managerial
- As of match played 21 November 2023[9]
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| NK Zagreb | 2002 | 2003 | 32 | 8 | 9 | 15 | 25.0 |
| Dinamo Zagreb | 2003 | 2004 | 54 | 32 | 15 | 7 | 59.3 |
| Red Bull Salzburg | 2005 | 2005 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 16.7 |
| Slaven Belupo | 2005 | 2005 | 18 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 33.3 |
| Dinamo Zagreb | 12 March 2018 | 15 May 2018 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 41.7 |
| Azerbaijan | 11 February 2019 | 13 December 2019 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 10.0 |
| Lebanon | 2 October 2023 | 8 December 2023 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Total | 136 | 53 | 34 | 49 | 39.0 | ||
Honours
Player
NK Zagreb
Austria Salzburg
- Austrian Bundesliga: 1993–94, 1994–95
- UEFA Cup Runner-up: 1993–94
Individual
- Austrian Bundesliga top scorer: 1993–94
Manager
Dinamo Zagreb